


Wicked Game

by smoaksnacho



Category: Shadowhunters, Single By 30, malec - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 13:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8058889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoaksnacho/pseuds/smoaksnacho
Summary: Alec Lightwood was always the outcast, he had never really had friends or been asked anywhere. Until now. When Peter, one of the college's most popular and loved students, asked him for help studying, Alec was completely unaware how much his life was going to change upon meeting Peter's twin brother, Magnus Bane.





	1. Chapter 1

Alec Lightwood was known as the outcast. It was no secret that he was one of the people at his college that were considered slightly unusual, and were generally left out of the loop. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd been invited out drinking or just outside of the library where he spent most of his time on one hand - which is conveniently the same hand that he could count the number of friends he had. One. He had one friend. He wasn't even sure that she counted, being that it was his sister and all.

  
So when Peter Bane came up to Alec in the library, his fluffy hair standing up on end and his backpack slung over his shoulders - maybe he was about go home? - a broad smile covering the entire lower half of his face (which gave Alec a serious case of the butterflies), and asked him to come over to his house right now to help him study for not-so-surprise surprise pop quiz that they had tomorrow, not only was Alec shocked, but probably the whole entire college was too.  
Alec, of course, accepted the invitation - it wasn't like he had anything else to do with his night other than hole up in his room with headphones, mulling over whether he should tell his parents that he was gay tonight, tomorrow or never, was it? - but he had no clue whatsoever what he was getting himself in for.  
-  
Alec turned up at Peter's house at 4pm on the dot, the time that they had agreed to meet, studying materials, notebooks and pens in both of his hands. He was wearing, quite possibly the nicest clothes he owned, black jeans, black tee and a black jacket, making him look impossibly pale in contrast.  
He rang the doorbell, hearing it chime loudly from the step on the front door. He could hear loud shouts, huffing, and footsteps and then the door swung open, revealing Peter, but also not Peter.

  
He had Peter's face, they had almost the exact same features, hair and body - from what he could see anyway - but they were so incredibly different, that Alec almost felt scared by it.

  
Not Peter was eccentric in a way he had never seen before, glitter bejewling his eyes and his face, a small white strand of his hair standing out amongst all of the other dark brown ones. Necklaces hung around his neck, his shirt cut wide open enough that he could see what looked like an incredible chest. He looked so incredibly appealing, that Alec could feel his jaw starting to drop at the sight of Not Peter.

  
"Who are you?" Not Peter asked, so pointedly that Alec would've laughed had he not been so taken aback and too busy staring at his six pack which was starting to peek through more and more as Not Peter's posture started to improve.

  
Alec coughed, trying to regain at least a little bit of composure. "Alec Lightwood? I go to college with your brother, he invited me ro-"

  
Not Peter cut him off in the middle of his sentence, turning away from Alec and shouting up the stairs. "There's fresh meat here for you, Peter!" He turned back to the door, flashed him a so obviously fake, but insanely dazzling smile, and said, "do come in."

  
Alec stepped inside the quaint house, colorful drapes and glitter spotted around every area of the house (which was obviously going to have been Not Peter's doing, wasn't it? Unless he wasn't actually interested in glitter at all and he was just working on his Halloween costume six months early).

  
"Would you like something to drink?" Not Peter inquired as he walked into the kitchen, Alec following his lead like a lost puppy.

  
"Um..." Alec had suddenly lost his entire vocabulary, his mouth becoming dry and his heart beginning to race as Not Peter turned and looked him dead in the eye. He could have sworn that there were gold reflects in his eyes. His eyes were beautiful. So, so- "What've got you?" Alec replied, his whole sentence coming out jumbled.

  
Not Peter stifled a laugh, trying to suppress it the best that he could, his face contorting with the effort.

  
How does he still look beautiful and dreamy, even while pulling a ridiculous face? Alec thought, sighing.

  
"Probably nothing that simpletons like you drink, but take a whack at it." He smiled, almost flirtily.

  
Alec gnawed on his lower lip, before replying. "Um. Uh. Uhm, water. Please." Alec added the please as an afterthought. Just because he was standing before a man that could so easily be a God and not a human being, didn't mean he could forget the manners he was so forcefully raised with.

  
"Predictable." Not Peter rolled his eyes, just as Peter stepped into the kitchen.

  
Peter smiled, his hair flopped to one side - completely different from the way that it had been styled earlier on that day. Suddenly, Peter didn't even look so attractive to him. Especially not while he was stood side by side with Not Peter.

  
"I hope you've been treating our guest with hospitality, pest." Peter hissed at his identical twin brother, his eyes narrowing into a glare. "You may go." He fake-smiled, as Magnus daintily walked off into a different room.

  
Alec could've sworn he caught a wiff of perfume, and he could easily say that that was the nicest smelling scent he'd ever accidentally smelt ever. Could this man become anymore unreal?

  
"So, you ready to study?" Peter asked, his voice gruff and tired.

  
Alec ignored his question, his mind still hooked and reeling on Not Peter. "Who was that?"

  
"Oh, that was my identical twin brother, Magnus. He's an ass."

  
Alec sighed, dreamily. "Oh."


	2. Chapter 2

Alec didn't get to see Magnus again for another week and a half after they had first met, but that didn't mean that he was out of sight, so he was out of mind. In fact, Magnus was all Alec could think about, seeing him again was always on his mind and he was constantly suppressing asking Peter about his brother everytime they studied together (the sessions in which had been being held all over the place now; the library, Alec's home, the park).

  
Peter had forewarned Alec that his sourpuss of a brother was likely to be home, and probably skulking because his boyfriend (yes, Peter had said boyfriend (and yes, Alec's heart did skip a beat or six) had just broken up with him for a girl - in which Alec had responded yikes. Because, really? Who just pops that out of the blue?

  
When Peter and Alec stepped into his house, the whole place was quiet and the atmosphere just reeked of sadness and heartache.

  
Peter pushed the kitchen door open, which was closed (it was apparently unusual for any door to be closed in this house, unless it was Magnus's bedroom when he had 'guests' over), only to find Magnus sat on the floor, the stereo blaring All By Myself.

  
He looked drastically different than the last time Alec had seen him, the glitter was smudged all over his face - as well as what Alec guessed was mascara, probably from crying. He wasn't all decked out in fancy clothing, he was dressed fairly normally for him. Alec wasn't sure that he liked it.

  
"Hey." Magnus smiled, sadly, not bothering to reach up and turn the stereo volume down, All By Myself starting from the beginning again. Alec could only imagine how many times that song had been played, but the sheer amount scared him just a little.

  
Alec waved, still taken aback by how beautiful he looked - even when he was a mess. It was still hard for him to string a sentence together around him without turning into a babbling, flustered wreck.

"Hey, we need this room to study." Peter said, bluntly.

  
Magnus looked up, and nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll go."

  
"Wait, hold on a minute," the words were out of Alec's mouth before he could stop them. "We can study at any time, Peter. The test isn't for another week and a half and your grades are already up remarkably. Maybe we could take this time to try and cheer up your brother?"

  
Peter glared at Alec with such intensity that if looks could kill, he'd be undoubtedly dead by now.

  
Magnus smiled, a smile with a mixture of both sadness and happiness, his eyes landing dead on Alec, and Alec felt a swarm of butterflies erupt in his stomach. "I guess, one movie wouldn't hurt?" Magnus asked. "I'd really appreciate the company."

  
"Okay, then. A movie and ice cream, it is." Alec smiled, patting Peter on the back as he groane at the prospect of spending time with his brother.   
\-   
One movie quickly turned into three. Three different chick flicks, where the guy gets the girl and the girl ends up getting brokenhearted and then he makes it up to her. Alec wasn't a massive fan, but Magnus seemed to enjoy them.

  
They'd been through four pints of ice cream, Peter making an excuse that he needed more to get through these crappy movies so he would leave and come back with more and more ice cream every trip to the store.

  
As the credits for the third movie rolled up, Peter groaned, yawning. "I need to go to bed. I have hardcore training in the morning and then in the evening - and I've got a belly full of ice cream. I need sleep."

  
"Yeah," Alec started. "I should probably go home, too. Get some sleep."

  
Alec, really and truly, didn't want to leave. The fact that Peter was going to bed only made him want to stay more. One on one time with Magnus? Sign him up. But he had a job interview for a job that he both desperately needed and really, really wanted. He really should go and sleep.

  
"Goodnight, Alec." Peter yawned again, ruffling Alec's hair. "See you tomorrow." He said before he climbed up the stairs, the door slamming - making Alec jump.   
"I should probably go." Alec started, Magnus interrupting him instantly.

  
"Stay for one drink? I make a killer margarita."

  
Alec sighed, nodding. He was whipped.   
\-   
That one drink turned into six, and before Alec knew it, it was almost 1am and he was starting to feel beyond tipsy.

  
Magnus kept touching his arm, laughing and smiling at him and making eye contact. He was surprised that he hadn't thrown up. This was probably the most physical contact he'd had with a guy that he had a huge crush on ever since Jace.

  
"I reaaally should get going." Alec sing-songed, his head starting to feel more and more woozy as Magnus poured him his seventh margarita, and Alec sipped it gratefully - revelling in the deliciously fruity tasting alcohol.

  
Magnus giggled, nodding. "You probably should," He started. "But first..." Magnus leaned forward, puckering his lips. It was obvious what he was going to do. He was going to kiss Alec.

  
Alec wanted it. He wanted it so badly. But he couldn't do it. Not like this.

  
And so he held up his hand, it resting against Magnus' chest, stopping him from coming any further. "I can't do this." He stated, firmly.

  
"What?" Magnus' eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't used to being rejected without the influence of alcohol, let alone with the influence of it. "Is this your first kiss or something? Because, it's fine by me to be your first."

  
It was Alec's first kiss, but that wasn't what was stopping him. He was completely okay with his first kiss being with Magnus, with or without the influence of alcohol.

  
"I just... I'm not going to be your rebound guy." Alec said, truthfully. "I want you to kiss me, I do. But I'm not going to be the guy that you kiss just because you're sad or angry that your boyfriend broke up with you to be with a woman. That's not who I am, and I refuse to let your attractiveness ruin my morals."

  
Magnus was shocked. Nobody had ever said anything like this before to him when he came onto them, and honestly? It made Alec more attractive than ever.

Magnus went to open his mouth to say something, but Alec stopped him with more words of his own.

  
"That being said, that doesn't mean we can't get to the kissing part eventually." He smirked.

  
Magnus smiled, greedily. "Do go on."

  
"Before we can even think about kissing, we have to go on at least five dates. And no, this doesn't count as one. This barely even counts as a getting to know you, because I literally know nothing about you other than that you had a boyfriend that left you"

  
Magnus nodded. "That sounds fair. So...tomorrow? 9.30 sharp for our first date?"

  
"I don't know. You tell me." Alec slid off of the chair, smiling at Magnus. "Your brother has my number and my address. Goodnight, Magnus Bane."

  
"Goodbye, Alexander."


	3. Chapter 3

It took Magnus five and a half days before he finally built up the courage to call Alec. Not only was calling a person after a night of drunken fun unusual to him, it was completely and utterly strange for him to be calling someone to ask them out for a date. It was always either the other person asking him out, or they didn't ask one another out at all - so understandably, he was pretty much shitting himself, for lack of better phrasing.

  
He had picked up the phone, started dialling Alec's number, before deleting it and putting his phone back down due to the tremendous amount of butterflies in his stomach more times than he could count on both hands.

  
He felt as if he was being stupid. Alexander Gideon Lightwood was a nobody. He had no social standards - he was surely not expecting Magnus to ring him, right? If he rang him, he'd be doing Alec a favour.

  
But, even with that thought in mind, Magnus picked up his phone and began to dial Alec's phone number. And this time he didn't put the phone down.   
\-   
Alec was sat in the study of the Lightwoods home, flicking through the pages of his mathematics textbook, his phone switched onto noise, his hands shaking with anticipation. Magnus still hadn't called, almost six days later, and Alec was genuinely terrified that he'd pushed away the only guy he'd ever truly liked.

  
Maybe he should just give up and pretend he liked girls. They were easier to find and easier to get, weren't they? At least that's what it seemed like from the insane amount of them that Jace brought back, even just a week.

  
Alec could hear his sister, Izzy's, bass music vibrating through the floor boards, and it was making his head pound to the beat. He could've sworn that that music was making him feel worse and way more nervous than before. He was tempted to yell at Izzy to turn it down (which he did refrain from doing to his best ability, so far, he was succeeding).

  
He turned his head back to his textbook, the door slamming open.

  
Alec groaned. "Seriously?" He lifted his head back up, his face being met with Jace's, yet another girl in tow. "Yes, Jace? I see you've brought another one of your subjects along with you again."

  
Jace glared at Alec. "This is Alison. She's pre-med, and she is also a book lover. I wanted to show her our study and the insane amount of books that we own." He turned to Alison, gesturing to Alec. "This is my brother Alec, he's a total sourpuss and a total nerd. More than three quarters of these books are his."

  
Alison laughed. "You say that like it's a bad thing. Having books is a good thing, they're very educational." She looked over at Alec, making direct eye contact, smiling almost flirtatiously.

  
Was she flirting with him? Oh dear god. Please no.

  
As if by some holy miracle, Alec's phone started it's ringing tone, almost making Alec jump. The awkward silence that was started by Alec not having a singular clue as to how to respond to this girl, Alison, flirting with him, finally ending.

  
He picked up his cell, waving goodbye to Jace and his subjec-Alison, he means Alison, noticing that the caller ID was one that was unrecognised by his phone. Did this mean what he thought it possibly could?

  
He crossed his fingers behind his back, as he pressed the answer button. "Hello, who is this?"

  
His fingers still crossed, he heard a shaky breath, before a voice that obviously belonged to Magnus Bane started to speak.   
-  
"Hello, is this the Lightwood residence? I'd like to speak to your sexy ass of a son." Magnus squirmed in his seat. Did he really just say that? Oh god, he was so nervous.

  
"Magnus." Alec said so pointedly, Magnus felt his heart sink into his stomach.

  
Did he not want to hear from him or something?

  
"I thought you might never call!" Alec exclaimed, his voice shaking. He was nervous too, and Magnus could sense it. It brought him such a big relief to know that he wasn't the only one that was horrendously nervous.

  
"Oh, I was just making you wait. I couldn't give you an easy game to play." He flirted through the speakers. "So, when do you want to go out then, pretty brown eyed boy?"

  
"That was one of the terms of our agreement. You have to decide when we go out. I can have no part in it, Mr. Man."

  
Magnus's mouth shut, his eyes widening. Nobody had ever dared challenged him or made a dating agreement with him and he felt more nervous with every passing second. "How about tonight?" He inquired. "Six o'clock?"

"That sounds perfect." Alec chuckled. "Couldn't wait any longer to see me, could you?"

  
Magnus laughed. "Believe what you wish, lover boy."

  
"Well, then. I'll see you in two hours, Mr. Bane. Don't be late." Alec laughed, a deep throaty laugh that was so beautiful it sent shivers down Magnus's spine. And then he was left with the dial tone.   
\-   
Magnus turned up at bang on six o'clock, it was probably the first time he had been on time for anything in his whole life. It felt strange and unnatural to be on time for anything, let alone be on time to pick up a man that he could easily see himself falling in love with.

  
The worst part was that he couldn't stop thinking about being with him, about falling in love with him, cuddling up beside a fire with ice cream and cheesy movies on an occasion that was something entirely different than because of a breakup. He'd known him all of two and a half weeks, give or take, and he was already imagining a future with him. He needed to get a grip.

  
Magnus's hands were shaking as he walked up to Alec's house, ringing the doorbell, nibbling on his lower lip. He was starting to worry that he looked too out there for a date at a semi-fancy restaurant. He was, as usual, dotted in glitter and colour but he felt overdressed.

  
The door opened to reveal Alec, dressed in a fancy dress shirt and black trousers, his hair left in messy unruly curls and his deepset brown eyes lilted as he smiled at Magnus. "You weren't late!" He exclaimed. "I'm proud of you."

  
Magnus's heart skipped a beat as Alec smiled at him. Was his smile always that beautiful or had he just been blind to it before? Or just too drunk to notice? The latter was definitely a possibility. "You look ravishing."

  
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and Alec felt the butterflies in his stomach kick up a riot even more than they were beforehand. Magnus thought that he looked nice. Magnus, the man who always looked like he was about to walk down a catwalk, thought he looked nice.

  
"Thank you." Alec said, trying to play it as cool as he possibly could while his heart was beating out of his chest. "As do you."

  
"Shall we go then?"   
\-   
Two hours into the date and they were very slowly eating their deserts. Neither of them wanted this date to end.

  
Alec knew he had to get home before his parents did, or else the slue of questions as to where he had been, let alone where he had gone dressed up the way that he was, would start and he was a pathologically terrible liar.

  
Magnus had enjoyed this date beyond any of the dates he had been on prior to this one - albeit it wasn't many. He was usually a wham, bang, thank you man kinda guy - but he felt different around Alec. Like he could be the true, better, nicer version of himself. He didn't feel like he had to put on a show for him, or like he had to pretend to be someone that he wasn't.

  
Little did Magnus know that Alec felt the exact same way.

  
They finished their deserts, smiles on their faces as they chatted and chatted about nothing but also about everything.

  
Magnus could have sworn he knew more about Alec after two and a half hours than he did with any of his boyfriends or girlfriends that he had ever been with before.

  
Not only that, but he had told Alec that he had dated girls before - and he didn't care. He thought it was intriguing.

  
Alec had told Magnus that his parents didn't know that he was gay and that they'd been setting him up with girls ever since he was deemed old enough to date, but they'd all ended in tears - and that was just his family.

  
And Magnus had said that they would have to tell them together, and then laughed it off as if that sentence meant nothing. But the truth was, Magnus was planning on spending more than just this two and a half hours talking to him. He wanted to spend everyday from here on out talking to him about stupid nonsense, about everything that happened in his day.

  
They could both tell it. They were quickly and hopelessly falling head over heels in love with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response that I've had to this story is insane, and I feel so lucky to have such a fantastic response. This fanfiction started out as a simple oneshot and has spiraled into so much more, and I absolutely love writing this for whoever wants to read it. It really makes me happy, and I love the fact that I'm finally getting into writing again!  
> I, also, have sorted out an updating schedule for however many chapters more this story goes on for. I will now be (attempting to) update every Tuesday and Thursday.   
> Thank you all for the wonderful feedback! It means so much.   
> P x


	4. Chapter 4

Alec and Magnus had started up a long-lasting texting relationship ever since their first date had ended six days ago, and now they couldn't go a day without speaking at least once to each other, and each text ended with at least two or three heart emojis. It was their 'thing', and Alec loved it.

  
Magnus made him feel things that he'd never felt before in his whole life. Even when he thought he was in love with Jace, he never felt this. The butterflies in his stomach everytime he called him Alexander, the way his heart melted everytime Magnus smiled or laughed or did, pretty much, anything. Magnus just made him weak in the knees, and no man had ever done that to him before - at least not a man that he could physically see and touch.

  
His ideal men were always made up as a figment of his imagination, he would dream about kissing them and dating them, but he had never found someone that made him feel the way his dreams did. Until Magnus. He was the exception.

  
But today, Alec was sad instead of happy. Everything with Magnus was going perfectly great, aside from the fact that they hadn't seen each other in six days, today was supposed to be their date night (exactly a week from their first date, and they were changing it up and were going to go to a theme park. They decided it after a lengthy discussion about how Alec had never been, and how he just needed to go with Magnus one day), but Alec had gotten sick. And now he had to cancel.   
Alec knew he'd been running himself raw between college kerfuffle, studying with Peter, pretending he was straight to his family (which was hard enough work in itself, especially seen as he just wanted to tell his family all about Magnus) and going out on dates, and he could feel himself getting sick on Sunday night.   
When the days went by and nothing had come out of the sick feeling he had, he just shrugged it off and guessed that nothing was there to come out (other than him out of the closet, of course) and just carried on with his daily business.

  
Until now. This virus had come out full force and he felt like royal crap. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this unwell - and the worst part of it all was that he couldn't see the one person that made him feel better.   
\-   
Magnus knew something was up with Alec when he didn't respond to his cheeky good morning message and his innuendo, so when it got to 1pm and he still hadn't heard from the boy that he wanted to call his boyfriend, he understandably became increasingly worried.

  
And so he rang him, and rang him, and rang him some more. Until he finally answered his phone, except, it wasn't him was it. It just had to go and be one of his family members.

  
"Hi, this is Izzy, Alec's younger but far more dazzling sister, who may this be?" His sister inquired, and Magnus started to laugh.

  
_Someone more dazzling than his Alexander? Impossible._

  
"Hi, um, this is Magnus. Magnus Bane. Is your brother there?"

  
Izzy snickered. "Oh, so you're that Magnus he won't stop going on about, are you? He is here, but he's really sick. Didn't sleep at all last night and was up at 9am throwing up. I had to force him to go to sleep, he was adamant he could still see you. He looked like he was about to cry when I said that he shouldn't even think about seeing you tonight, bless him."

  
Magnus bit down on his lip. "Okay..." He paused, thinking. "I think that I have a plan."   
-  
Alec woke up after sleeping for a solid seven hours to the shrill ringing of his phone. The noise hurt his head, which was pounding with pain - the pain meds that Izzy had forced down his throat had most definitely worn off - but he picked up his phone anyway, neglecting to look at the caller ID.   
"Hello?" He mumbled, groggily, his throat killing with even just that singular word.

  
"Look outside your window." A voice that unmistakably belonged to Magnus spoke, as he heard something hit his window outside.

  
He pulled back his curtain, wincing at the barely-there-but-still-enough-to-hurt sun. "What are you doing?"

  
"I spoke to Izzy earlier on today." He started, and Alec groaned. "Oh, don't be such a sourpuss, Alexander. She told me you were sick and that you wouldn't feel up to going for our date, so I bought the date to you. It's not quite a theme park, but I have pizza and chocolate."

  
"That's better than a theme park." Alec chuckled. "Let me just make myself more presentable, I'm in my pyjama bottoms with no shirt, as it is."

  
"Well, that's fine by me." Magnus laughed, flirtatiously. "Honestly though, you're sick. Just throw on a shirt, and come down. I don't care if you're in your pyjamas or not, okay? As long as I'm with you."

  
Alec felt his stomach tie up in the most beautiful of knots at those words. _Oh my god, he was falling in love with that man. So hopelessly, irrevocably and unbelievably in love with him._

  
He hung up the phone, shoved a shirt over his head, and made his way downstairs, opening the door as he jumped down the last stair. Seeing Magnus would be such a big relief and he honestly couldn't wait to see him.

  
Magnus smiled at him, a huge, cheesy grin that made Alec's stomach fill with butterflies.

  
"Surpri-" Magnus's sentence was cut off short, as Alec enveloped him in a hug. Magnus was caught off guard, but hugged him back almost instantly. He relished the feeling of Alec's arms around him and the feeling of being both safe and warm in them, and then Alec let go.

  
Magnus took in Alec's face, and he pouted. "You look so sick." He murmured softly, pressing his hand to his forehead. "You're still burning up. Poorly little thing."   
Alec stepped back and let Magnus inside, Magnus shutting the door behind him. "Welcome to my humble abode." Alec laughed, the laugh being cut off as he started to cough, doubling over in pain from coughing.

  
"Alec, if you don't feel up to this-" Magnus started, Alec cutting him off before he could even begin to finish his sentence.

  
"No. I want to see you. Seeing you will make me feel better." He said, quietly. "Honestly. Please, stay."

  
Magnus smiled, and opened the living room door - just like he knew where everything was. But maybe that was because he did, because when the door _open,_ the curtains were drawn, a blanket was laid out on the floor, and candles were lit everywhere.

Alec could feel tears pricking at the back of his eyes, but he tried to force them back. "Magnus, you didn't have to do all of this."

  
"I wanted too. I hated not seeing you for the last six days, and another day with not seeing you would have sucked. So, I wanted to make a date for you at home." He smiled. "Do you like it?"

  
"I love it." He smiled so wide that his mouth hurt.

  
 _And I love you._ He thought.

  
And suddenly, Magnus was going in to kiss him, but Alec held up his hand to stop him - exactly like he had that one night, the night when everything started - and Magnus stopped in his tracks.

  
"I'm-I'm sorry. Five dates. I know."

  
Alec shook his head. "It's not that. I would and could very easily kiss the hell out of you right now, Magnus. I just don't want you getting sick."

  
Magnus smiled, laughing slightly. "Do you really think I care about that?"

  
"I don't know, maybe, I just-" Alec started to babble, the butterflies in his stomach becoming more and more alive, and then, Magnus cut him off mid-sentence.

  
"Because the answer is no. I don't care about getting sick, I care about you." And then, before Alec could respond, their lips were intertwined in a kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

 After Magnus and Alec kissed, everything changed. Not neccesarily in a bad way, in fact - it was actually in a pretty good way.

  
Alec was slowly starting to feel more comfortable in himself and his sexuality, something he hda never, ever felt before. He felt happier, something that Izzy commented on every chance that she got.

  
They had finally put a label on things, they were officially 'seeing each other'. They weren't boyfriends, not quite yet, but they were very quickly moving towards that. They were ready for that step, both of them.

  
Every kiss, every date, every cuddle, every laugh and smile that the other brings to their faces - it all made them even more sure of the feelings that were growing towards one another every single day, and every kiss, Alec was sure that it was just one kiss away from him being ready to go the whole nine miles; telling his family, officially dating Magnus, kissing Magnus more, holding Magnus in public.

  
He was sure he was ready for this. He wanted his family to know. Until they knew, and everything turned to crap.   
\-   
**Earlier.**

  
Alec sat at the dining table at dinner with Peter and Magnus and their family. This was his first time meeting Magnus's parents, and it all just made him think about how much he wanted Magnus to meet his.

  
He was desperate for Magnus to meet Jace, for him to properly be able to get to know Izzy, outside of sneakily arranging plans for a sick Alec, which happened almost three and a half weeks ago.

  
The only way that he was allowed out tonight was because he lied to his parents and said that he was blowing off family night to cram for a test (one that didn't exist) that he had to sit on Monday with Peter.

He had lied to his parents. But then again, he'd been doing that ever since he realised he liked boys, hadn't he?

  
"Are you enjoying your lasanga, love?" Magnus's mom, Katarina, asked, smiling her incredibly sweet smile at Alec.

  
Alec nodded. "It's lovely. Thank you." He pushed another forkful into his mouth, waiting until it was all gone before speaking again. "And thank you for having me round for family dinner. It's, um," he coughed, lightly, "it's really nice to meet the family of the man that I have...incredibly strong feelings for."

  
"No, no, you're ever so welcome." She smiled, even more warmly than before. "Magnus doesn't shut up about you. I mean, whenever he comes downstairs. It's hard to pull him away from his phone upstairs because he's always messaging you. You make him extremely happy."

  
Alec looked over at Magnus, whose cheeks were turning a startling colour of pink, a grimace on his face.

  
Alec smiled at him, taking his hand. "He makes me really happy too." He spoke softly, glancing up at the clock. "I hate to dash off so suddenly, but I really should be getting home. I-uh-I don't want my parents to be getting worried."

  
They probably wouldn't even notice he was gone.

  
"That's okay! It's completely fine. It was lovely to meet you, and have you round for dinner. You'll have to come again." She smiled, standing up from her chair.   
Alec went in to shake her hand, and she pushed it away, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. The fact that this woman, the woman who was being so kind even after just meeting him once, could possibly end up his future mother-in-law made him ridiculously happy.

  
And yes, he was at the stage where he was planning his future with Magnus - not that Magnus was aware of that. He didn't want to completely embarass himself.   
Magnus stood up, smiling at Alec, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'll drop you home. Don't want you walking in the freezing cold, baby." He whispered, sending shivers down Alec's spine.

  
"Thank you for having me over, Mrs. Bane." He smiled, politely as him and Magnus ducked out of the door, heading towards Magnus's car.

  
Magnus sighed, wrapping his arm around Alec's neck, Alec joining his hand with Magnus's. "So... What did you think of her?"

  
"She was lovely. Really." Alec smiled, as they climbed into the car, the ignition roaring to life as Magnus started to drive.

  
Alec didn't want to go home. He didn't want to have to pretend that he wasn't madly in love with Magnus Bane, that every time he looked at him his heart didn't skip a beat, that he wasn't unbearably and unbelievably happy with this man. But he had too. He knew he had too. Telling his parents just wasn't an option yet, not while his mom and dad were already fighting over Jace and his erratic behaviour as of late.

  
Magnus pulled up outside the house, climbing out of the car, and opening Alec's door as if he was his chauffeur.

  
He wrapped his arms around Magnus, snuggling into the crook of his neck. This was the hardest part about keeping up these pretenses. Saying goodbye each night and knowing that they'd have to lie to get around to seeing each other again.

  
"Are you sured you liked my mom?" Magnus murmured, softly. "It's okay if you didn't. We just won't have dinner again with her-"

  
"Magnus." He stopped him talking. "I loved her, almost as much as I love-"

  
And then a voice interrupted his sentence, making his stomach fall onto the concrete below him, making him feel like he was about to vomit.

  
"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you have some explaining to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA. HA. HA. So much for that updating schedule. I SWEAR I'M TRYING. It might just be on Tuesday's as opposed to both Tuesdays and Thursdays because Thursdays are bUSY.   
> But anyway, that ending was probably way too cliche and way too predictable but...I wanted angst. I love me some angst.   
> Hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! x


	6. Chapter 6

Alec turned around, his hands shaking. He could feel Magnus's hand on his shoulder, he could see his mouth moving but he couldn't make out the words that he was saying. All that he could hear was static.

  
His heart was up in his throat, and he could've sworn he was one millisecond away from vomiting all over his mother. Tears pushed through his eyes, making their ways down their cheeks as he struggled to breathe.

  
He didn't know where to look or what he was supposed to do, 'They know. They found out', was all that was running through his brain and he was rendered almost immobile other than the incessant shaking that was taking over his whole body.

  
The look on Magnus's face terrified, and possibly horrified, all thrown into one and it just made Alec shake and cry more.

  
And then Izzy was there. Out of nowhere. Out of the blue, his younger sister was there and guiding him to the front porch steps, wiping his tears away.   
He still couldn't understand what she was saying, the static noise in his head growing stronger and louder with every passing second, and he thought he was going to pass out any minute now.

  
He looked up at Magnus, who had tears brimming in his own eyes at the state of his boyfriend, shaking and struggling as he tried to fight this panic attack.   
Isabelle made Alec put his head between his knees, rubbing his back over and over, trying to make him calm down even just the slightest. She allowed him to slump against her, and she could feel his whole body shaking with every struggled breath.

  
Her heart broke at the feeling. She'd known for so long that her brother was gay, and how he'd always been too afraid to tell their conservative parents. She knew that he was in love with Magnus, and now here he was. Having his deepest and worst fears confronted without his own consent.

  
Alec was breathing just a little bit easier as the time started to drag, but his head was buzzing and he felt beyond dizzy and sick. He still couldn't stop shaking, and all he wanted to do was hide for the rest of the day and pretend none of this had happened.

  
A choked sob made his way out of his mouth, and suddenly he felt a hand in his, and he knew it was Magnus. He could tell from his textured palms, and the black painted nails digging into Alec's palms, trying to stop him shaking.

  
The feeling of Magnus's hand in his made him cry even harder, because it meant he'd seen all of this and he wasn't scared away. He didn't know how Magnus wasn't fleeing the scene as quickly as he came, but he wasn't. He was there.

  
The static sound started to lessen even more, and he could hear Magnus's voice clearer as he whispered over and over, something he couldn't make out but he was sure was beautiful and poetic, especially seeing as it came from Magnus.

  
Alec sucked in a deep breath, holding it as he tried to calm himself down even more, slowly lifting his head up from his knees, his back leaving his sister's shoulder as he let himself fall into Magnus's arms, sobs wracking his whole body.

  
"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay." Magnus whispered as he stroked his hair away from his face, it sticking to the tears. "I'm here. I'm right here, Alexander. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

  
And that was how he passed out, to the sound of Magnus's voice.  
\-   
Magnus sat down on the floor next to the couch where Alec was sleeping, soundly. Magnus was shaking slightly after the events of this evening, but it was okay.   
Alec was sleeping. He was okay. That was all that mattered to Magnus right now.

  
"Thank you for caring so much about my brother." Izzy whispered, smiling tiredly at Magnus, her voice quiet and sad. "He needs someone like you in his life. You've made him so much happier since you've been in his life."

  
"Isabelle," he started, stopping, catching his breath. "I love your brother. I truly do. He makes me happier than I have ever felt in my whole life. I would do anything to make him happy."

  
The door opened, Maryse and Robert walking inside, their faces solomn. "Magnus, may we talk to you for a moment?"

  
"You'll have to talk to me here. I'm not leaving Alexander." He whispered, his thumb stroking over the back of Alec's hand.

  
Maryse sighed. "Fine."

  
"How long have you been seeing my son?" Robert asked, pointedly.

  
Magnus scoffed. "Does that really matter to you? Is that the most important question for you to be asking right now? Your son just had a panic attack. He just passed out from a panic attack that you, his parents, the people he is supposed to trust with his life, caused. Nobody else. You."

  
"Yes, I understand that, but-"

  
Magnus shook his head. "But nothing. Alexander is one of the greatest things to happen to my life, Mr and Mrs Lightwood. He makes me happier than anyone or anything ever has before now, being with him is my greatest privilege in life. I love him for who he is, no matter what, which is more than you can say."

  
"How dare you! We love our son, no matter if he's-" Maryse stopped her sentence short, coughing lightly.

  
"What? Gay? You can say it. It's not a dirty word. And yes, he is gay. He's a beautiful, wonderful homosexual, and nothing you can say or do or try to force him into can change that. That is him, and I love him for it and in spite of it." Magnus spat. "You should think yourself lucky. You have a son that people would die for. A son that is kind and funny and loving and one of the greatest people I have ever met, and you don't even realise it."

  
"And if you can't realise it and show him, then I will. Because I know and I appreciate all of him. Every single part. Every part that you think is wrong, every part that he thinks is damaged or broken? I love it. And I love him. Everything about him. And I will continue to love him for as long as he'll let me."

  
There was a small cough coming from Alec, and Magnus spun straight round, tears welling in his eyes before slipping down his cheeks.

  
Alec wiped one away before it fell onto his shirt, his hand squeezing his. "Hi." He whispered.

  
"Hi," Magnus murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> After seeing this fic idea on one of my friends' Twitter accounts, I randomly decided to take a break from my writing break and see what came out of this prompt. It spiraled, and now it's become something else entirely. I don't entirely know what's going to come out of this with future chapters, but we'll just have to wait and see! Thank you to Malak for this incredible fic idea, this one's for you. 
> 
> Twitter - banesnacho  
> Tumblr - smoaksnacho


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